


Made with Love

by Phoenix_Write



Series: Henry's time at Portia [1]
Category: My Time At Portia (Video Game)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, Mostly Fluff, Secret Santa, Swearing, partially angst, tagging all these characters even tho only higgins and builder show up, this is my first mtap fanfic so probably ooc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-14 00:07:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28537098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phoenix_Write/pseuds/Phoenix_Write
Summary: It was all Gale’s fault. In an attempt to make life more interesting, the mayor had proposed a secret Peach of sorts. Everyone in town put their name on a sheet of paper, put it in a box, and someone else drew their name from the box and was given a month to make the perfect gift without letting the other person know.
Relationships: Male Builder/Higgins (My Time At Portia)
Series: Henry's time at Portia [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2090550
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11





	Made with Love

**Author's Note:**

> I am juts a simple homosexual

It was all Gale’s fault. In an attempt to make life more interesting, the mayor had proposed a secret Peach of sorts. Everyone in town put their name on a sheet of paper, put it in a box, and someone else drew their name from the box and was given a month to make the perfect gift without letting the other person know.

Higgins didn’t even know why he bothered to participate, it wasn’t like it was mandatory or like he really wanted anything. But for some godforsaken reason he was standing there, in the dead of night, writing his name on a sheet of paper and putting it in the box outside the Commission's Guild.

It was all Gale’s fault that when the box was being passed around the next day, and he reached in and drew a sheet out, he saw the name _Henry_ staring back at him in sloppy handwriting.

Higgins considered trying to subtly slip it back into the box and draw again, but the box had already been passed well out of his grasp. He considered just giving his rival something small, like some ore or a razor to shave that stupid beard off.

He could probably give that man actual shit and he would smile, thank him, and somehow turn it into a positive. That man could be hit by a train and turn it into a positive. That constant positivity infuriated Higgins.

But no, Higgins would never cop-out like that. This paper was a challenge, and he could never refuse a good challenge. He was going to make Henry the best damn present ever and rub it in his stupid sexy face!

_I mean just his stupid face!_ Higgins thought, turning a shade of pink. _Where did the word sexy come from?_

***

Henry had a horrible disease, and it was called _being in love with douchebags disorder_. You’d think after getting heartbroken so many times he would up his standards and date someone that actually gave a damn about him. But _no_! Of course that asshole had to burst in, steal his commission and his heart.

He stared at his sheet of paper for way too long. Higgins had very nice handwriting. Would it be weird for him to frame this?

The worst part about this whole situation is that Henry knew absolutely nothing about what Higgins liked. That man didn’t seem to like anything except money and yelling at Henry at the top of his lungs because one of his metal bars went missing.

Would putting a few Gols into a box and giving that too him work? No, that would probably come off as patronizing and or charity. He already knew Higgins’s opinion on charity, and it’s not like he had much to spare as is.

Maybe Henry could get his hands on Musa’s autograph? Wait Higgins already had that. He remembered when the two of them first met Mr. Musa. Higgins’s hands were trembling so much as he asked Musa to sign a paper.

_He’s cute when he’s flustered_ , Henry thought, and then he thought: _Wait that’s probably creepy. He’s your rival, not your middle school crush._

Whatever Henry made for him, it would have to be useful. Higgins didn’t seem like the type of person who liked to have things just for the sake of having it.

Henry turned on his coffee machine and pulled out some blueprints. He was going to make Higgins the best present possible, and Higgins will be so impressed he’ll set their rivalry aside and they’ll be best friends forever. _And maybe make out a little bit_.

30 minutes passed…

The coffee was cold and the diagram was blank.

_This is going to kill me._

***

Finding out what Henry liked was not the hard part. He was friends with almost everyone in town, so all it took was a few subtle questions to get a pretty good list of the things Henry liked. The hard part was that everything Henry liked was stupid.

He asked Mei first, they were business partners afterall, and then Higgins had to find an excuse to leave before Mei made him look through another photo album with her. Alice spoke about different flower arrangements, but Higgins had to leave before the pollen made him sick. Arlo started talking about a few adventures Henry joined the Civil Corps on, going on and on about the thrill of adventure.

Surprisingly enough, Nora was the only one with any helpful insight.

“Henry is very sentimental. He’s held onto every homemade gift he’s been given purely because he loves the people that gave them to him. You could buy him the richest, nicest, most perfect gift in the world, and he wouldn’t treasure it half as much as he treasures something made with love.” She said to him before shifting topics to the Church of Light, and then Higgins remembered he had somewhere important to be, which was anywhere but there.

So far Higgins’s list of _Things Henry Liked_ contained: “Something homemade” and the words “Made with love” circled a bunch of times and surrounded by question marks. _What the hell did that even mean?_

Homemade was too broad. He was already planning on making this gift himself. And love was a concept, not a material.

_Oh what to do. What to do…_

***

At some point Henry settled on a piggy bank. It would be about the size of a tool box and it would count and sort out money for you.

He had to thank Aadit for the idea. The kind man stopped by for a hello and Henry managed to bounce a few ideas off of him. It was useful, and had to do with money!

And then, halfway through designing it, Henry got anxious.

Higgins most certainly had a storage unit for his gols. And what if he already thought of this idea and got angry and Henry did it first? What if he thought Henry stole the idea? 

***

Higgins tried not to linger on “Made with love” for too long. He thought about Henry’s dumb yellow jacket he wore even in the heat of summer, and decided to work with that. It wasn’t hard to get Henry’s size out of Carol.

A light brown would look better on him anyway. Not that Higgins cared.

The fabric would be made by Higgins himself. He only used the best and finest materials, even if it was for someone less than fine.

He thought about just inserting the pattern into a machine and calling it a day, but that damn phrase kept coming to mind.

“Made with love?” He said out loud, as if hearing it again would make it make more sense. It didn’t.

He decided to sew it by hand. He wasn’t sure why, but it felt like the right thing to do. 

***

It was time for the gift exchange. Everyone in town was milling around the plaza to track down their gift receivers. Higgins felt incredibly out of place.

Henry had been overthinking his gift for weeks. His final gift was a pig-shaped multi-tool. A piggy bank, music player, tool holder that could also be remote controlled.

Was it too much? Was it not enough?

Henry sucked in a deep breath and walked over to Higgins.

“Here. Happy… Peach.” Henry stuttered, shoving the package into his arms. He was about to make a run for it when Higgins grabbed him.

“This is for you. Enjoy it!”

Flabbergasted, Henry stood there, fidgeting with the lovely package.

“Well? Open it! I don’t have all day!” Higgins tapped his foot in an attempt to hide his own anxiety.

Henry carefully opened it to find a warm jacket. He carefully sheds the one he had on to put the new on one. “Higgins! It’s wonderful!”

Higgins's heart did not just skip a beat.

“I hope my gift is okay…” Henry said, trying not to sound terrified.

Higgins almost forgot about the package Henry had given him. He opened it to find… A pig? Was this a joke?

“It’s a piggy bank!” Henry quickly explained. “It counts for money.” He quickly rummaged around in his pockets to find a gol to demonstrate.

“It also plays music! I wasn’t sure what you were into so I programmed a bit of everything in there!” Henry continued. “It also does other things! At least one of those features has to appeal to you!” He didn’t mean to say the last part out loud.

For the first time ever Higgins was absolutely speechless. It was wonderful! Fantastic! More than he thought he’d get.

Unfortunately he said none of those things. Instead he said: “It’s adequate.” And stormed off to his workshop, leaving Henry hopelessly crushed. 

***

Later at home, Higgin’s cleared off a space on his desk for his gift. He still hadn’t figured out the whole “Made with love” thing, but his gift seemed to go down pretty well.

He spotted a note attached to his gift. Inside there was a list of instructions for what it did and how to use it. On the bottom of the note, scribbled out, but still legible, read “With love, Henry.”

And then Higgins understood.


End file.
